The use of motor vehicles for transportation and sheltering during outdoor activities such as hunting and camping has expanded to include a great number of features, benefits, and options. Utilizing trailers, recreational vehicles, and the like is popular because of features such as sleeping space, weather protection, power, flat clean surfaces, and mobility.
Due to natural limitations on dimensioning from the width of roads, the width of trailers, recreational vehicles, and the like is limited to sizes of no greater than approximately eight (8) feet. While this is acceptable for many uses, many structures and features which are desirable in an outdoors or camping setting require dimension larger than those which can be provided by such vehicles. As a result, structures such as stages, platforms, and the like which require large surface areas are often transported in pieces which require lengthy setup processes upon arrival or eschewed entirely in favor of simpler but smaller equivalents.
Various attempts have been made to provide portable platforms, stages, and the like. Examples of these attempts can be seen by reference to several U.S. patents. U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,488, issued in the name of Hanley, describes a portable stage. The Hanley apparatus is utilized with a tractor trailer and deploys in a semi-automated fashion via use of hydraulic or pneumatic portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,878, issued in the name of Weaver, describes a foldable vehicle platform. The Weaver apparatus houses a flat surface underneath a recreational motor vehicle for automatic deployment to a location adjacent the vehicle upon arrival at a destination.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,769, issued in the name of Mertik et al., describes a portable stage. The Mertik apparatus includes an integral chassis and deployable canopy to provide conventional features associated with performance stages.
Additionally, ornamental designs for portable platforms and stages exist, particularly U.S. Pat. Nos. D 149,831 and D 464,144. However, none of these designs are similar to the present invention.
While these apparatuses fulfill their respective, particular objectives, each of these references suffer from one (1) or more of the aforementioned disadvantages. Many such apparatuses do not provide a sufficient surface area to be utilized for a wide range of purposes. Also, many such apparatuses do not have a plurality of height adjustment portions in order to adapt to uneven terrain as commonly encountered outdoors. Furthermore, many such apparatuses are not adaptable to be carried by a convention recreational vehicle hitch assembly. In addition, many such apparatuses are not deployable in any desired location regardless of proximity to the vehicle. Finally, many such apparatuses are not of a size and design to be safely and easily utilized by a single user without access to equipment and the like. Accordingly, there exists a need for a trailer mounted platform without the disadvantages as described above. the development of the present invention substantially departs from the conventional solutions and in doing so fulfills this need.